BJP set to revive Hindutva through yatra

New Delhi: Not getting the kind of public
support it had expected on issues like corruption and law and
order, BJP is all set to revive the Hindutva and Ram temple
agenda in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh with the party planning to
wrap up its Jan Swabhiman Yatra at Ayodhya on November 17.

In a bid to enthuse the party cadre and reach out to the
electorate of UP, BJP had launched the Jan Swabhiman Yatra
from Varanasi and Mathura simultaneously on October 13. Both
these cities have been on BJP`s Hindutva map after Ayodhya due
to the Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple issue at Varanasi and
the Keshav Dev temple-Shahi Idgah issue at Mathura.
Asked if the party was trying to revive the temple issue
and Hindutva, BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, "We
began this yatra from Mathura and Kashi (Varanasi). Ayodhya is
an important cultural centre not only for Uttar Pradesh but
the whole country. The yatra is aimed at ending Ravan rule
(oppressive regime) and ushering in Ram rajya (good
governance)."

BJP President Nitin Gadkari will be present at the
culmination of the yatra on November 17 at Ayodhya. The party
will take a Vijay Sankalp (victory pledge) at a rally at
Ayodhya. Elections in UP are scheduled to be held in April
next year.
It appears that BJP has fallen back on the Hindutva and
temple agenda after other issues failed to arouse the kind of
public sentiments the party had expected. The party will
continue to target the BSP government as well as SP and
Congress on issues like corruption and good governance but is
likely to play the Hindutva card more vociferously.